Thursday, May 01, 2003
Copyright © Las Vegas Mercury

Listening Station

Madonna

American Life

Relax, all you flag-waving hawks out there: Madonna didn't make a political record. Despite the controversy surrounding the original (and pulled) version of her "American Life" video, and the unfounded assumption she'd go System of a Down on us, her ninth studio album that shares the name of said video is more about Madonna than anything else. This is not our American life, necessarily, but hers, and the result may just be her most personal effort to date.

Madonna has had no problem baring all, but instead of getting a bustier off her chest, lately it's been her feelings about family, love, celebrity and spirituality. These themes informed some of her past output, notably 1998's ecstatic Ray of Light album. However, American Life is dominated by her enlightened self-awareness, perhaps rooted in the six-string (and often acoustic) core of almost every song. Strip away Music producer Mirwais' nervy, hypnotic digital production, and what you hear is akin to traditional singer-songwriters like Beth Orton and Sheryl Crow. The former Material Girl has never been so articulate in the studio.

Nor has she ever been this consistent. Music, her otherwise enjoyable 2000 album, was plagued by a tug-of-war between the knob-twiddled dance anthems and the contemplative strummers, resulting in only one successful hybrid ("Don't Tell Me"). American Life, on the other hand, is defined by this unique fusion, and it--along with some strong songwriting--makes for some compulsory listening.

There are a few faults--a Debbie Harry-aping rap in the title track, an out-of-place inclusion of last year's 007 theme "Die Another Day," cornball rhymes here, sophomoric lyrics there--that don't detract too much from this coalesced work. It's already known as Madonna's "weird" record, but thanks to her ever-morphing vision, it's also one of her best.--Mike Prevatt

Yardbirds

Birdland

In the press material for the Yardbirds' new release, Birdland, original member Chris Dreja denies the band's first album in 35 years is an act of cashing in on the garage rock revival. "The garage sound never really went away," Dreja says. "I've been hearing it all over the place for years, and for some reason it's fashionable again. But that's not us picking up the phone saying, 'Hey, man, it's all coming back. Let's get out there and make an album.' We were way ahead of that. It just sort of happened that the album's coming out at a time when the Hives and the Strokes are getting a bit of press."

That, of course, is a steaming pile. While it may be true that Dreja and drummer Jim McCarty, the other original member involved in this project, had dreamed for many years of making a new Yardbirds album, obviously no record companies were interested until the Strokes, Hives, Vines, etc., started attracting attention the past two years or so.

Okay, so what have Dreja and McCarty, two of the lesser-known members of the '60s rock band that birthed guitar gods Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page (and who were involved in the '80s studio experiment Box of Frogs), cooked up? Fifteen songs--eight new recordings of Yardbirds classics (ostensibly because the originals were poorly recorded, but we know better) and seven new tracks (six originals and a cover). Also, they've drafted an impressive roster of guest musicians, including Jeff Beck, Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, Queen's Brian May, Guns 'n Roses' Slash and Goo Goo Dolls vocalist John Rzeznik. Interestingly, no Clapton or Page contributions. (Original Yardbirds vocalist Keith Relf died of electrocution in 1976.)

And what is the result? A pretty decent 60 minutes of classic rock. No huge gaffes, and plenty of guitar virtuosity. Skepticism about motivations aside, this is an album that was worth doing. The remakes of '60s classics such as "For Your Love," "Shapes of Things" and "Over Under Sideways Down" are true to the originals, with a few fresh twists, and the new material is solid, if not spectacular. The best new song is "Crying Out for Love," which sounds like the kind of pleasant, midtempo rock ballad that Los Lobos would produce.

Perhaps the most interesting thing about Birdland is it doesn't sound much like all this new garage rock you're not hearing on Las Vegas radio. It's more bluesy and psychedelic, with intricate guitar solos and wailing harmonicas. The reincarnated Yardbirds are still very much their own entity, separate and apart from the new guys on the block. And that's as it should be.--Geoff Schumacher

The Yardlands are set to perform June 27 at Boulder Station.

Tommy Guerrero

Soul Food Taqueria

When Tommy Guerrero was handpicked to skate for Powell Peralta's legendary Bones Brigade in the mid-'80s, he was the cool king of the concrete, gliding through traffic on wings of urethane and casually stomping every rail/curb/channel/hip that the San Francisco hills could throw at him. A relative unknown when the skateboard world--slacker jaws agape--saw him rip an ollie-to-frontside air in competition, Guerrero became the first professional street skater to have a signature deck, and 20 years later his legend still reigns in the lore of jump ramps and backyard half-pipes.

But the tyranny of middle age catches up with even the most resilient road warrior, and bruises and bad knees drove Guerrero to other outlets for his bountiful creativity--most notably music (a fact that should give us some pause). In all seriousness, need I reference the Bacon Brothers, Russell Crowe's Thirty Odd Foot of Grunts or former Miami Vice star Don Johnson's Let It Roll as reminders that music is best left to musicians?

Fortunately, Guerrero isn't one of those crossover train wrecks. Having noodled on the guitar and bass for more than two decades, Guerrero's transition into music has proved as smooth and fluid as one of his signature sidewalk bumps. With a handful of well-received full-length albums and EPs to his credit, Guerrero combines influences as diverse as The Meters, Latin Playboys and Tortoise into a funked-up collage of ruminative jazz riffs and mellow grooves.

Soul Food Taqueria is no exception. Beginning with the coarse, organic strains of "Intro Lectric Chile Goat" and featuring appearances by DJ Shadow and inner-city folk-blues strummer Gresham Taylor, Soul Food Taqueria is 54 minutes of laidback street-beats ("Abierto") and narcotic jams ("It Gets Heavy"). My only complaint is that sometimes it lulls, running songs together in a sort of trance-like daydream. Then again, maybe that's what makes it perfect for a lazy Sunday on the porch, drinking Tecate and listening to the skate punks roll by.--Newt Briggs